UFC London: Molly McCann to fight Julija Stoliarenko in July flyweight bout
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McCann fought in London last July, beating Hannah Goldy
Molly McCann will face Lithuania's Julija Stoliarenko in a flyweight bout at UFC London on 22 July.
Liverpool's McCann, 32, has not fought since a first-round defeat against American Erin Blanchfield in November.
It is the first bout announced for the event at the O2 Arena since the UFC confirmed its return to London.
The promotion's last UK show saw Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman to retain his welterweight title at UFC 286 in March.
It is unlikely Birmingham's Edwards will feature on the July card though, after he suggested he is targeting a return to action in September or October.
The event will see McCann return to the arena where she recorded two stunning elbow knockouts last year, beating Luana Carolina in March then Hannah Goldy in July.
'I've done a lot of healing in my time off'
McCann's defeat to Blanchfield halted a three-fight winning streak and slowed her momentum after a successful 2022, where she entered the top 15 of the UFC women's flyweight rankings.
She says the manner of her defeat - where Blanchfield dominated the majority of the fight on the ground before securing victory by submission - was difficult to take and led her to take a break from training and competing.
She instead put a lot of her focus into 'Weapons Down Gloves Up', a Liverpool-based boxing initiative that aims to reduce crime by offering opportunities to youngsters.
This allowed McCann to heal both physically and mentally.
"Normally I think fighters sometimes spiral after a loss, especially in the manner I lost," McCann told BBC Sport.
"I've lost in fights before and at least got to fight - this time I got a punch then got taken down and that was all she wrote.
"I had to find an outlet that wasn't self-sabotage and wasn't so detrimental to my mental health because I think sometimes the elite level are never taught to lose and never taught to deal with it that well.
"I put my time and energies into 'Weapons Down Gloves Up' and grieved while doing other stuff and it was a massive eye-opener. I learned so much.
"So a lot has been done in my time off and I think a lot of healing. I let my shoulder heal, it was really [damaged] after that last fight."
McCann has now applied herself to training and competing since signing the agreement to fight Stoliarenko.
"If I feel like I just want to focus on me for a bit, I will. Being successful in the octagon, that's the important bit for me," said McCann.
"I just need to get a couple of wins back. Two of my last three losses have come to title contenders [Taila Santos and Blanchfield], so it's not a bad place to be really."
Other British fighters who could appear on the card include Arnold Allen and, if fit, Paddy Pimblett and Tom Aspinall.
Pimblett recently had ankle surgery and heavyweight Aspinall is recovering from a long-term knee injury while featherweight Allen lost his undefeated UFC record to American Max Holloway last weekend.
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